Cabinet unveils outlines of plan for free economic pilot zones

Greater Taichung Deputy Mayor Tsai Bing-kun holds up an image yesterday, saying that the city is ready as the government appoints Taichung Port as a free economic pilot zone.

Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times

The Cabinet yesterday unveiled the general principles of a plan to set up “Free Economic Pilot Zones” aimed at ushering in a new wave of liberalization to “build momentum for economic growth and industrial upgrading,” and to “create conditions for the country to take part in regional economic integration.”

Under the plan, in certain pilot zones, Taiwan would augment its WTO commitments by having WTO-plus provisions for the liberalization of investment in the manufacturing and services sectors, and movement of goods and services, flow of capital, movement of labor and transfer of technology for investors from other countries besides China.

Restrictions imposed on Chinese investors within the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement — less preferential than treatment under the WTO — would not be applied to Chinese investors in the pilot zones.

“What we have planned is that, in the manufacturing sector, Chinese investors will receive access to exactly the same treatment as foreign investors in pilot zones, as long as national security is not a concern,” Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) said.

Kuan said the policy would mean that Chinese investors in pilot zones would not be subject to an ownership limit of 50 percent in the so-called seven major core technology-based industries.

Asked whether Chinese investors may then participate in the industries in zones with no limits on equity holdings, the government did not give a specific answer.

Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (梁國新) said the ministry would review the national security implications of Chinese investment on a case-by-case basis.

It is “not a blank check” given to Chinese investors to invest in the industries, as investment by Chinese nationals would require the government’s permission to avoid any negative impact on local industries, Liang said.

In the services sector, the plan proposes that restrictions on Chinese investors in pilot zones be relaxed and brought in line with WTO provisions in phases.

For example, Deputy Minister of Health Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) said healthcare institutions in pilot zones are currently open to foreign investors, with the exception of Chinese investors.

According to the plan, the project would be implemented in two stages.

In the first stage, the Executive Yuan has designated the nation’s six free-trade zones — Suao Port in Yilan County, Keelung Port in Keelung City, Taipei Port in New Taipei City (新北市), Taichung Port in Greater Taichung, Kaohsiung Port in Greater Kaohsiung and the Taoyuan Aerotropolis in Taoyuan County — as pilot zones, Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said.

After the legislature enacts a special law for the project’s implementation, each and every local government would be entitled to apply to create a pilot zone, Mao said.

Kuan said the government had factored a number of things into its plan to attract investors, including Taiwan’s skilled workforce, information, technology and communication industries, and its strategic location and relationship with China.